


Monsters in the Closet

by jessthecoconut



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-15 04:49:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/523316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessthecoconut/pseuds/jessthecoconut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's January of 1983. Dean has just turned four, and Mary is pregnant with Sam. Dean wakes up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, and it's Mary's turn to get him back to sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monsters in the Closet

    Mary Winchester was exhausted. She had been tossing and turning all night, her husband was snoring louder than a chainsaw, and the baby in her belly had been kicking her on and off for a couple hours now, making sleep impossible. She turned, stretching to see the clock, and mentally groaned when she saw it. It was only 3 in the morning, and she still had to wake up in a couple hours to get Dean ready for preschool. She rolled over on her side, and was almost asleep when she heard her son’s voice.  
    “Mommy?” Dean called down the hall. “Mommy, I’m scared!” She waited a minute, to see if he’d go back to sleep. When he called out again, sounding a little more scared now, she elbowed John in the back.  
    “I was up with him all night last week when he had that stomach bug,” she whispered. “It’s your turn to go, John.” She didn’t care that he had been up with Dean for a little while the night before. Her pregnancy was sapping all of her energy anymore, and her doctor said she should get as much sleep as possible.  
    “He’s asking for you,” John mumbled. “Can’t, gotta be at the garage early.” She elbowed him again, harder this time, but he grunted and rolled over.  
    Mary sighed, and pushed herself into a sitting position, careful to mind her growing belly. She wasn’t huge yet, but she was showing pretty well. The doctor had estimated a few days that she was about 26 weeks along, give or take a couple days.  
    She padded down the hallway in her nightgown and barefeet towards Dean’s room at the end of the hall, stifling a yawn or two. His bedroom door was cracked, and she could see his nightlight shining from his dresser. She opened the door a bit more, the hinges creaking quietly.  
    “Dean?” she asked. “You okay, hun?” He was curled up on his bed, clutching a teddy bear and wide awake.  His blonde hair was all mussed up from going to bed with it wet after his bath, and he was wearing a pair of pajama pants and a Superman t-shirt. She sat down on his bed, and he reached for her. She pulled him onto his lap, and put her arms around him, running a hand over his hair. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, until Dean spoke up.  
    “Mommy, there’s monsters in my closet,” he whispered, glancing at the door opposite his bed. “I can hear them, they’re angry.” He’d been having nightmares for a couple of nights now, the usual little kid dreams of scary monsters under their bed, or in their closet. John had tried to help the night before, but whatever he said to him wound up scaring Dean even more instead.  
    “Sweetie, do you remember how old you are now?” He hesitated, and held up four little fingers in response. “That’s right, Dean. Your birthday was last week, so you’re four years old now. Do you know what that means?” She made it sound as if she had a big secret to share with him. He shook his head. “It means that you’re a big kid now, and monsters don’t like big kids.”  
    “Really, Mommy?” He sounded more curious than scared now, and Mary smiled. “But that’s not what Ally’s brother Jimmy said. Jimmy said that monsters like to eat kids who still have baby toys. He told me my teddy is a baby toy, Mommy, and that the monsters wanna eat me.” I bet Jimmy has a teddy bear of his own, Mary thought.  
    “Well, Jimmy’s wrong, Dean. Monsters are actually really scared of big kids, so I don’t think they’re in your closet.” Mary ruffled his hair, making him smile that cute, gap-toothed smile of his. “And you know what else? Monsters don’t like brave big brothers like you.” His eyes widened. They had been waiting to tell Dean about the baby, but this moment seemed like the right time. “Dean, in a couple months, you’re gonna have a brand-new baby brother, named Sammy.” He seemed to be thinking something over for a bit before he spoke again.  
    “But, how come I can’t have my brother now? Where is he?” Dean sounded confused.  
    “Because he’s still growing, silly. He’s in my belly right now, and in a couple months he’ll come out and _then_ you can see your baby brother, okay?.” He still looked confused. Mary decided to lay off on the “how babies are made” stuff. “Do you want to see something cool?” she asked. He nodded, and she took his hand and put it on her belly. As if responding to his brother’s touch, the baby kicked right where Dean’s hand was. Mary saw a flash of something in her son’s eyes.  
    “Mommy,” Dean said. “Are the monsters gonna wanna eat my brother, like Jimmy says? Because he’s not a big kid like me?”  
    “I don’t know, sweetie, why do you ask?”  
    “Because I don’t want them to,” he said fiercely. “I’m not gonna let them hurt my brother, Mommy. They’re not gonna get him, I promise.” She smiled at the determination in his voice, and pulled him into a tight hug.  
    “I’m sure he’ll appreciate it, hun. I bet he’ll just love having you for a big brother.” She bent to press a kiss to Dean’s forehead, and lifted him off her lap. She stood up slowly, feeling her joints crack. “Do you want me to tuck you in again?” He nodded, and got back into bed. She pulled the blankets up around him, and gave him his teddy bear. Walking over to the closet door, she made a show of pretending to check for monsters, but when she turned back to Dean, she found him almost asleep.  
    “Goodnight, Dean. I love you, sweetie.” Mary whispered, not sure if he’d heard her. She was almost out the door when she heard him mumble something.  
    “Love you too, Mommy.” With that Dean rolled over and fell sound asleep, his fears of the imaginary monsters in his closet already forgotten. She smiled, and walked back down the hallway to her bedroom. She climbed back in beside John, who was snoring as loud as ever. She had no trouble getting to relaxing this time, and fell asleep with a hand on her belly, waiting for her unborn son’s next kick.


End file.
